


Domestic

by shizuruu



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Multi, OT3, Poly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-20
Updated: 2013-09-20
Packaged: 2017-12-27 03:59:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/974060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shizuruu/pseuds/shizuruu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If she could live in a world without titans...? It would probably look like this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Domestic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [askalittlelion](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=askalittlelion).



They were late, she noted, as the sun slowly disappeared behind a brigade of dark but short trees. Orange light slowly streamed through the grains and the usually blinding white snow suddenly seemed dim and lifeless.  
  
Her tired eyes stared into the distance - and although she wouldn't actually admit it - she was kind of nervous. The woods weren't very safe during this time of the year - what if they got stuck in the snow? It wouldn't be the first time - last year, Bertholdt managed to get himself stuck under several layers of snow. Back then, Annie and Reiner were there to help him, but this time it was only Reiner and if it happened to both of them...  
  
She shuddered involuntaliry and wrapped herself in a fuzzy blanket. Her grip on the white mug she got for Christmas from her father (what a thoughtful gift, really) tightened as she lifted it to her lips and took a sip.  
  
But she almost choked on her drink as the opening door startled her. Loud footsteps made her turn around slightly. She didn't let the relief show on her face and kept her stoic face on. Reiner was already inside, while Bertholdt was undoubtedly still by the door, taking his shoes and socks off. Reiner of course took off his boots but otherwise didn't even bother doing anything about the snow that was stuck on his pants and a fluffy hat with two stuffed ears, that made him look like an even bigger idiot than he was. She sighed - telling him to do something about it would be pointless so she could only hope the snow wouldn't make any mess on their floor.  
  
"What took you so long?" she called out to him as he disappeared in their small kitchen.  
  
She could almost hear the familiar grin in his voice as he shouted back at her: "A squirell started bombarding us with cones and Bertholdt insisted on staying until we spot it. We didn't and as soon as it started getting dark, I told him we'd have to go."  
  
Annie rolled her eyes. Those two sure behaved like adults... not. And there she was, getting... concerned, ah yes, that was the right word - for nothing.  
  
Soon Bertholdt closed the front door and went to take a book from their bookshelf. There weren't many, because they were hard to get lately, but it was enough for them, kids who grew up in a very closed society. She noticed that he held a new book in his hands - it had to be the one that Armin gave them during his last visit. It was written by Hans Christian Andersen and it was supposed to be full of strange and foreign worlds and fantasies. She didn't have time to read it yet, so Bertholdt would be the first one to do so. And Reiner? Unlike Annie and Berholdt he didn't really like books all that much - only sometimes he would listen if they read out loud.  
  
He looked like a real child in moments like those, with his head on Annie's lap and warming his feet against Bertholdt's as one of them read a book out loud, with a clear, void voice (Annie) or a weaker one, that perfectly knew how to change intonation depending on mood (Bertholdt). He often fell asleep like that and once, Annie and Bertholdt decided to draw stuff on his face. Reiner wasn't very happy about that when he woke up.  
  
Bertholdt headed towards her so she turned to the window but a sudden "not again" drew her attention back to him. He was currently staring down at the floor, his gaze giving out just how stressed out this situation made him. Really, Bertholdt was very sensitive when it came to stress.  
  
And there, on the floor, of course was a puddle of water. Annie didn't even have it in her to be angry at Reiner, she simply sighed.  
  
"Must have been the snow from Reiner's clothes,"  
  
And conveniently, Reiner chose that moment to return from the kitchen and jump on the bed without any grace. He grinned like usual and ignored the fact that he almost made Annie spill her tea.  
  
"Anyone talking 'bout me?" he inquired smugly and put his cold feet right next to Annie's under the blanket she had decided to share with him.  
  
"Yeah, discussing what an idiot you are. You made a mess. Again," Annie kicked his feet away. "And move a bit! It's almost as if your feet are made of ice!"  
  
Reiner huffed while Bertholdt seemed contemplative about whether he should get something to wipe the floor with or simply crawl in the warm and inviting bed (ignoring Annie's subconcious glare, directed at anything that moved). Finally he decided to get into the bed too and tried catching the last bits of light so that they would let him read at least few pages from the book he'd chosen. Unfortunatelly though, it was too dark to read already and they didn't want to waste light when it was unnecessary. So he laid down in the middle of the bed, Annie on one side and Reiner on the other side. Annie was still drinking her tea when his eyes started closing on their own.  
  
Annie watched Bertholdt slowly fall asleep. It would take few hours until he got into one of his usual horrible sleeping positions. Reiner was still wide awake and threw an arm around the tallest one of them. Annie smiled despite herself and before she could change her mind, gave Reiner a peck on his cheek, for a good night.  
  
She swiftly turned around - never quite admitting how anxious she felt when displaying affection - and untied her hair. She kicked her pants off and let her head rest once again on the huge pillow they bought last year. Their house was dark already but she could still see shapes of their furniture as her eyes got adapted to the darkness.  
  
"Good night Annie," a voice behind her whispered.  
  
"G'night Reiner," she yawned back and pressed her back against Bertholdt, to gain some warmth. A hand settled on her waist and she smiled faintly.  
  
__________________________________________________  
  
Bertholdt woke up first the next morning. During night he'd managed to pull of one of his infamous sleeping positions once again - this time punching Annie in the face unknowingly and causing her a nosebleed.  
  
Upon waking up and realizing what he did, he started apologizing to Annie. That didn't really mean much to the girl - all she wanted was to go to sleep again so after ensuring she won't bleed on the pillow and patting him on the head a few times, she fell asleep again, this time covering Reiner too (who was shivering on the other side of the bed until then).  
  
The sun wasn't showing yet but lazy shimmering light already laid its hands on the milky white snow outside. He glanced at the giant clock ticking away on the wall. It was going to be seven soon, but there was nothing to attend to today, so he didn't even bother waking Annie and Reiner.  
  
He decided to crawl out of the bed and found his slippers. They looked ridiculously huge next to Annie's small ones. Silently, he got out of the bedroom/living room and walked to the kitchen. It was a dark and tiny space - especially if all of them tried to fit - but it was the most interesting one. There were pictures on the walls - everywhere - but that wasn't the point. Those pictures were the ones they had drawn as kids and Reiner had preserved them from being thrown away. Right after they moved into this house, Reiner put them on the walls, almost giving Annie a heart-attack when she saw her doodle of a sun with a wide red smile from when she was four. After recovering from the shock, she chased Reiner around the house yelling "WHERE HAVE YOU FOUND THIS DEVIL'S SPAWN". They never saw that side of Annie again, unfortunately. And a long talk and a new book actually convinced Annie to let him keep it on the wall. To Bertholdt those pictures were literally memories. He didn't remember much of his childhood so it was nice to have those pictures hanging in the kitchen. The most wonderful one of them all seemed to be a large dragon sitting on top of a hill and Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie under it. Actually they looked like stickmen in colorful clothes and with strange hair, but he remembered that all of them have collaborated on this one.  
  
Smiling, he took out a piece of bread and some cheese. He wasn't really that hungry but somewhere along the way, he'd gotten used to eating when there was nothing else to do. After stuffing his mouth with some of the food, he heard some rumbling in the next room. Soon, Reiner's very tired face joined him in the small kitchen. He sat down next to Bertholdt by the table and let his head fall down on it. Berholdt chuckled slightly and ruffled Reiner's already disheveled hair. The blond groaned but didn't make any move to stop him.  
  
And without any suspicious sounds, Annie walked out of the door too, punching Reiner's arm.  
  
"You're too loud. Woke me up," she complained and stole part of Bertholdt's breakfast. Said boy didn't even complain and finished eating the rest of it.  
  
He glanced at Annie and couldn't hold back a grin. Her hair was a bit curly and fell in her face.  
  
She noticed his expression and surprisingly smiled a bit too.  
  
Reiner interrupted the moment by leaning back on his chair and falling down on his back.  
  
And it may have been the middle of winter but it was a morning full of teasing, sunshine and warmth.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by asklittlelion's answer on tumblr. I have been given permission to use her ideas.


End file.
